End-gate



H. E. GRIGGS.

END GATE.

APPLICATION FILED 050.26. 1919.

1 35 1 1 65 Patented Aug. 31, 1920..

| i Ig, nli A "jini I N VEN TOR.

narran stares PATENT QFFICE.

HIRAIVI E. GRIGGS, 'iy WAYNE, NEBRASKA.

END-GATE.

Application `filed December 26, 1919. Serial No. 347,293.

grain to escapeint'o an elevator, the device being arranged to permitAthe end-gate to open only the proper distance however much the forwardend of the wagon box maybe elevated, and to hold it secured to the wagonbox all the time whether in its opened or closed position, in order toprevent it from at any time becoming accidentally detached from thewagon box, sothat if a carelessA driver forgets to close the end-gate,he is in no danger of losing it as he drives home. Another object is,`to provide a device which gives an opening at the middle of the rearend; of the wagon borstA which opening causes the grain toenipty intothe middle of the dump hole of the elevator, thereby preventing any ofthe grain from spilling out at thesides of said hole. Inthis latterrespect ythe device is specially adapted for use with truck bodies whichare wider than ordinarywagon bodies, and therefore spe cially liable tospill out grain at the sides of the dump hole, if provided with-theordinary end-gate. A

Still another object is toprovide an endgate of 'this character which isnormallyV held Hush with the rear end ofthe wagon box, so las togiverthe largest possible opening in proportion ,to the distance thehinged sections of the end-gate are moved rearwardly. i

Other objects will appear in the subjoined description.

An important feature ofthe invention consists of a pair of keepersrigidly securedl to the sides of the wagon box, and each having a headand neck portion projecting beyond the rear end of the wagon box; a pairof latches cooperating with said keepers, said,4 latches being eachloosely pivoted at one end to the end-gateand provided at the other endwith a longitudinal slot for receiving the neck of the keeper, said slothaving an opening leading out through the lower side thereof, to permitthe slot in the latch to engage the keeper g' andangle corner pieces atthe rear corners of the wagon box for stops to hold the ends of theend-gate against rearward movement.

The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter Vdescribed and claimed, referencebeing had to the aecompanying drawings, in which 'Y Figure l is a brokenperspective view, showing an end-gate provided with my iin provenient..Fig. 2 a top plan view of the rear portion of a wagon bei; provided withmy improvement. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the keepers; and, Fig.la is a similar view of the pivoted latch cooperating there with. y y

'llhe numerals l and 2 indicate the bottom and sides respectively of awagon box, which is provided with an end-gate formed in two sections 3and dconneeted together by hinges 5. ri`he section 8 carries alatchboard 6 rigidly secured4 thereto, and the section l a rotatablelatchV 7 ladapted to cooperate with the latch-board 6 by means of theslot 8 at the free end thereof, to lock the parts of the end-gatetogether in their normal posit-ion on the wagon boX.

rlhe wagon box is provided at its rear corners rwith angle irons 9 whichare formed preferably of steel. The broader sections 9t of these angleirons are rigidly secured to the vsidesi 2 of the wagon box with thenarrower sections 9b lapping the ends of said sides and projectinginwardly beyond the same. Y

et the rear inner corners of the wagon boX are the vertical cleats l0,rigidlysecured to the sides 2 of the boX and spaced from the rear endsof said sides a distance approximately equal to the thickness of thematerial used in making the sections 3 and 4 of the end-gate.

l/ihen the end-gate is in its normal closed position as illustrated inFig, l of the drawings,l the free ends of its sections 3 and l arereceived between the cleats l0 and the sections 9b of the angle irons.That is to say, each section takes the place of one of Y on the bottom yfrom t e end thereof. ll

the free end ofthe latch-board 6 from the.V section e ofthe end-gate,and the endgate` the ordinary wooden cleats usually einV rangement holdsthe end-gate flush with the` rear end of the bottom 1 of the box,whereas with the ordinary arrangement, employing two wooden cleats, theend-gate is held about two inches inwardly For a dumping wagon, mypresent arrangement has the very decided advantage of giving the largestpossible dump-opening when the'sections 3 and il; of theV end-gate aremoved rearwardly a given distance. -lnaddition to this, wooden cleatswhen frequently subjected to sudden and heavy strains soon work-looseand become unre-f` liable, to say nothing ofthe fact that they areeasily affected by moisture and will soon begin to rot when exposed tothe weather.VV

In addition to the above, the angle irons 9 also coperate with importantfeatures, now to be described, in a way produce most desirable results,when the end-gate is broken for any reason either intentionaloraccidental. i i

rlhe keepers 11 are rigidly sections 9a of the angle irons, and havetheir head and neck portions 11L and 11b respec- VY tively projectingrearwardly beyondV the angle irons.- rlhe corner latches 1Q whichcooperate with these keepers 11 are provided at their inner ends withbores 13 and at their outer ends with longitudinal slots 1e havingopenings 15 leading out through their lower sides. By means of the bores13 these corner latches are loosely pivoted to the sections 3 and 4 ofthe end-gate, and

the necks 11b of the keepers are adapted to' be received into the slots14E through the" openings' 15. fit the inner ends of the corner latchesI provide the washers 16, -and the free ends 12a of these latches may becurved outwardly if desired, as illustrated in Fig. 2, though they alsowork well'when perfectly straight.

ln operation, my end-gate vwhen in its closed position, as illustratedin lFig. 1, is

held in this position in lthe ordinary wayY by means of the latch 7,with'the" ends of the end-gate received between the .cleats 10 and therear sections 9b of the corner angle irons. TWhen in this position, the'keepers 11 and the cooperating corner latches '12 are practically idle,though, of course, Vthey would preventY the end-gate Vfrom Vbeing movedupwardly if that were attempted. lt will beV noticed that thearrangement of the parts is such that the corner latches'12 cannot bedisengaged from the keepers 11 tillthe latch 7 has been operated torelease moved rearwardly sufficiently to bring the securedto the. sides2 of the wagon box, preferably on the .Y p

f-between the cleats 10 and the sections 9b of y the angle irons, thelend-gate cannot rock lgrain into an elevator, and the rear' end of thewagon box has been brought overthe Aelevator hole, and thefront end ofthe box elevated, the endgate is then `unlatched by a proper turn of thelatch 'githerearward pressure of the grainl will now` openv the end-gatebringing the parts into the position illustrated in` F ig. ,2, with-thewidest point in the dumpopening exactly at the middle of the wagonbox.AV The latches A12 will not permit theend gate to open only so Afar, nomatterhow great the pressure of the grain against it, or how`suddenly it may have opened when the latch 7 was operated;

lilith ordinary endgat`es,-there is danger at this point of theend-gate' being jerked Vout of the hand ofthe operator, and carried downthrough the elevator hole with the ram. j Y f As the outer ends of myend-gate areheldup' and-'down at its middleportion but is held rigid,vas it were, l,against such move-1 ment, and always substantially` atright an#Y gles to the plane of the bottom of the wagon'y bozen 'l A Mydevice` does not open the whole rear end of thegwagon'bombut only Vacertain predetermined portion at the center thereof, so that .italwayscauses `the graintoruny into the middle of tlie'eleva'tor hole, and doesnot permit such a wide flow of grainV from the box as to scatter it atthe sides of the hole where it would havejtobe swept in with a broomyafter the' load had -loeenV dumped from the'wagon; llorv this reason,mydevice is specially adapted for use with truckbo'dies which are widerthan 'wagon bodies. d Y 'A From the foregoing it will beVV seenv howgreatlysuperior my'devic'e is to the ordinary endf-gate which has to beentirely removed from thewagon boX when grain is to be Vdumped into anelevator. e

Again attention is calledto the fact that the corner latches 12 cannotaccidentally"vv become disengaged from the keepersfll when the end gateis brokenl el, open),

Aas illustrated in Fig; 2; and therefore if a rior merit and of greatpractical value, as have fully proved, having thoroughly tried ont thedevice in practical use.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is l. 1n a device of the character described,the combination with the sides and bottom of a wagon box, of an end-gatehinged between its ends to openk rearwardly; spaced cleats on the sidesof the box for engaging the free ends of the end-gate sections to holdthem against lateral movement while permitting them to move toward eachother when the end-gate is opened rearwardly; rearwardly projectingkeepers secured to the sides of the wagon box; corner latches pivoted attheir inner ends to the hinged sections oi' the end-gate, and providedat their outer ends with means for engaging and disengaging saidkeepers, said means including longitudinal'slots in engagement with saidkeepers to permit longitudinal movement of the latches on the keepersfor permitting the sections of the end-gate to move toward each otherwhen opened rearwardly without becoming detached from the sides of thewagon box; and means for securing the end-gate sections in rigidrelation to each other* 2. In a device of the character described, thecombination with the sides and bottom of the wagon box, of an end-gatehinged between its ends to open rearwardly; spaced cleats on the sidesof the box for engaging the free ends of the end-gate sections to holdthem against lateral movement while permitting them to move toward eachother as the end-gate is opened; rigid keepers projecting rearwardly'from the sides of the wagon box with the projecting portions of saidkeepers having reduced neck portions; corner latches pivotally securedat their inner ends to the end-gate sections, and provided at theirouter ends with elongated openings adapted to removably engage the necksoi said keepers, said openings being elongated to permit a limitedmovement of the end-gatesections toward each other when the end-gate isopened rearwardly; and means for securing the end-gate sections in rigidrelation to each other.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

HIRAM E. GRIGGS.

